DOING BUSINESS AROUND THE WORLD

Competitiveness

Inventive companies, efficient capital markets and flexible workers make America the world's most competitive economy, according to the World Economic Forum, a think-tank based in Switzerland. Its latest Global Competitiveness Report grades 131 countries in 12 categories, including the quality of institutions, infrastructure, innovation and macroeconomic stability. Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Germany (with the highest infrastructure score) complete the top five. Singapore, Japan and South Korea are the most competitive economies in Asia, ranking well above China (34th) and India (48th). China loses marks because of a weak financial system. A rigid job market hurts India's ranking.

Doing business

Singapore retained its ranking as the easiest place to do business in the World Bank's “Doing Business 2008” report, the fifth in an annual series. The rankings are based on ten quantitative measures of the regulatory environment for private firms. Egypt showed the biggest improvement compared with the last survey, advancing in five of the areas covered. A business can spring to life more quickly there than in Italy. Many of the countries making the greatest strides are in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Ghana, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Kenya and China are also among the top ten reformers. Congo, where it takes 155 days to get a business up and running, is the lowest ranked country in the survey.

Executive pay

Senior managers stationed in the Middle East, Russia and Mexico are better paid than their western counterparts, once their cost of living is taken into account, according to Hay Group, a consultancy. It compares senior managers' disposable income across 47 countries, by looking at average salaries, then taking into account income tax and living costs. By this calculation, senior managers in Saudi Arabia have the equivalent of $229,000 to spend on average; those in Britain just $86,000. In emerging markets, a shortage of experienced managers is pushing up pay. Managers in Turkey, Mexico and the Ukraine all enjoy far more buying power than their peers in America, who rank only 24th.

Entrepreneurship

Only 6.5% of new firms are likely to grow quickly enough to need more than 20 employees within the next five years, according to a report by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and Mazars, an accounting firm. Entrepreneurs were asked how many people they expect to hire in their early years. Based on the responses, 90% of jobs will be created by less than a quarter of new firms. Nearly half of all start-ups do not expect to hire any staff at all. China has the highest number of entrepreneurs per head, with 17 per thousand. Russian start-ups are the most confident about creating jobs. America scores well on both counts: it has lots of entrepreneurs and many of these expect to employ at least 20 workers.